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The election campaign of Malaysia's Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, hit new depths yesterday with the allegation that the wife of his chief political rival, the jailed Anwar Ibrahim, had sought a divorce, writes John Gittings in Kuala Lumpur. Dr Wan Azizah `asked for divorce twice over the years after she found out `the truth' about (Anwar),' the pro-government Sun tabloid reported on its front page.
The not-so-subtle insinuation is that Wan Azizah had learnt about her husband's alleged bisexual behaviour - a charge which he says has been fabricated by his political enemies.
The story also claims that she was beaten by Anwar when she asked for a divorce a second time. Wan Azizah has dismissed it as `totally unfounded'. Anwar is standing trial on sodomy charges which Dr Mahathir has several times declared to be proven. No action has been taken against the Prime Minister for his statements which, like yesterday's article, appear to be in contempt of court.
The source for the Sun's story is Khairuddin Abu Hassan, Anwar's cousin. The Sun also quotes an official in the Prime Minister's department, Abdul Hamid Othman, saying there had been a `family dispute between husband and wife'. The star witness in the Anwar affair is the sultry Ummi Hafilda Ali, whose appearances at Anwar's first trial made her a national celebrity.
On Friday, a thousand voters heard her give an impassioned account of how she followed her sister-in-law to an apartment block and then accused her of sleeping with Anwar. Both the sister-in-law and her husband - Anwar's former private secretary who is now an opposition candidate - have denied her claim.
The government's obsession with the jailed former Deputy Prime Minister has grown daily throughout the short campaign. `It's really a contest between Mahathir and Anwar', says one Malaysian journalist. `The problem simply will not go away.(picked from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1999/nov/28/malaysia Sunday November 28 1999 02:46 GMT)
It's emerged in Malaysia that the jailed former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, is being investigated for financial corruption, following allegations that he amassed a secret fund worth hundreds-of-millions of dollars.
The allegations were made in a statement yesterday by a former Assistant Governor of the Central Bank, who's himself charged with financial impropriety.
During his current trial for sodomy, Mr Anwar had accused his opponents in government, including several serving ministers, of corruption.
(picked from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/493107.stm Friday, October 29, 1999 Published at 10:02 GMT 11:02 UK)
More than 1,000 supporters of Malaysia's former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, have marched through the streets of the capital, Kuala Lumpur, in the biggest anti-government demonstration for months.
Shouting slogans calling for Mr Anwar's release from jail, the demonstrators were protesting against the politician's alleged poisoning while in detention.
The protesters assembled outside the national mosque and marched through the streets of the capital, their numbers swelling until riot police and water cannons arrived on the scene.
This was the biggest show of support for Anwar Ibrahim since a court sentenced him to six years in jail in April for misuse of power.
It was triggered by allegations that dangerously high levels of arsenic were found in the jailed politician's body, in what his family alleges was an attempt on his life.
The family say they smuggled a sample of his urine out of the country for testing in Australia under a fictitious name.
A year of legal proceedings against Mr Anwar have thrown up semen-stained mattresses, poisoned pen letters, a black eye and now arsenic.
In a statement, the opposition leader, Lim Kit Siang, said so many incredible things have transpired in the last twelve months that now the suggestion that Mr Anwar was poisoned is no longer unthinkable to substantial sections of the Malaysian public.
Opposition politicians have called for an independent inquiry into the incident, saying they're not satisfied with a police invesigation.
But speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of Asia Pacific leaders in New Zealand, Malaysia's trade minister, Rafidah Aziz, said Mr Anwar had deliberately timed the allegation of poisioning so as to seek as much political mileage as possible while the international gathering was taking place.(picked from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/444614.stm Saturday, September 11, 1999 Published at 14:12 GMT 15:12 UK)
More than 100 anti-government protesters are under arrest in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, after a fourth day of demonstrations against the jailing of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Protests against the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad have shaken the capital since Mr Anwar was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in prison for corruption and abuse of power. He has consistently denied the charges, saying they are part of a political conspiracy to end his challenge to Mr Mahathir's 18-year rule.
The official news agency, Bernama, reported that police had detained at least 118 people.
The news agency reported that city police chief Kamarudin Mohamed Ali said some students had resorted to violence and carried weapons during the demonstrations.
Some 32 students detained on Saturday for offences such as illegal assembly and rioting were to be "handed over to their schools and colleges for further action", Mr Kamarudin said, adding that the co-operation of the public, including teachers, was needed "to overcome the problem".
"We have received reports that some students have been paid and we will investigate this," he said.
Hundreds of people, most of them students, marched through the streets on Saturday, armed with primitive weapons such as catapults and rocks.
Police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters. Riot police used tear gas and water cannon to break up a demonstration by opposition supporters in the heart of the main shopping area of Kuala Lumpur.
The demonstrators fled the police into nearby shops and alleyways and several Saturday shoppers were accidentally caught up in the disturbances.
The BBC Correspondent in Kuala Lumpur, Frances Harrison, says that the situation is growing ever more tense with larger numbers turning out to demonstrate.
Kuala Lumpur was reported to be calm but tense on Sunday as police patrolled key parts of the capital.
Mr Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, has denied that her newly created National Justice Party (Keadilan) is behind the unrest, although her party's flag was seen during the clashes.
She said on Sunday that reports of anti-government street violence had been exaggerated to divert attention from her husband's jail sentence.
Protesters shouted slogans backing Mr AnwarWan Azizah said in a statement that she regretted the violence and the fact that weapons were seized from protestors linked to Keadilan.
"The real supporters of reforms and Keadilan would not resort to violence or treat violence as a political approach," she said.
She said that the street violence had been "manipulated to fulfil the political agenda of certain groups".
"The issue has been overblown to shift the people's attention from Anwar's jail sentence, which has sparked outrage. "
"It was publicised to smear my husband's reputation and to curb his popularity. It is also an attempt to taint my public image," she said.
Wan Azizah has called for an independent inquiry into the beating of opposition demonstrators by police.(picked from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/322407.stm Sunday, April 18, 1999 Published at 13:03 GMT 14:03 UK)
